Man pleads guilty in funeral home break-in, blaze

A Wellington man pleaded guilty Friday to breaking into a Collingsworth County funeral home in December and setting it ablaze.

Sawyer Kent Adams, 22, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on a burglary of a habitation charge, 100th District Attorney Luke Inman’s office said in a news release.

Adams turned himself in March 31 after a four-month investigation into the fire at Collins, Johnson and Thornberry Funeral Directors in Wellington, authorities said.

On Dec. 13, Wellington and Collingsworth County authorities responded to a blaze at the funeral home at 1011 East Ave. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, which was mostly contained to a coffee table, Collingsworth County Sheriff Joe Stewart said earlier.

Sawyer Adams is the son of Larry Adams, who operates Adams Funeral Home two blocks south of Collins, Johnson and Thornberry Funeral Directors on East Avenue. Authorities said Adams acted alone in the incident.

The blaze caused an estimated $60,000 in damage, owners said.

Authorities, who recovered embalming fluid, paper and a lighter near the fire, took all items to the Department of Public Safety crime lab in Lubbock, Stewart said.

“Forensic evidence is what turned the case around,” he said in April.

Sawyer Adams also pleaded guilty to violating his probation, and received a one-year prison sentence, authorities said. The sentences will run concurrently.

Sawyer Adams received a two-year probation term after he pleaded guilty last year to evading arrest in a motor vehicle, a state jail felony, Inman said.